Arizona added the second most battery storage of any state nationwide in the first three months of this year.
That’s according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Arizona added about 940 megawatt hours of utility-scale battery storage in the first quarter of this year. That’s about as much energy as 1,000 homes use for a month.
It's also, however, about 36% less than was added the same time last year in the state.
Despite that drop, SEIA anticipates there will still be strong battery storage growth for the rest of the year nationally. Joan White with the organization says batteries have a specific strength relevant this year.
“Unlike fossil fuels that have high price volatility related to geopolitical occurrences, solar and storage have a very stable price profile. So I think in this particular moment, we're seeing a lot of utilities look to solar and storage," White said.
She says batteries are helping utilities handle peak power later in the day.
"They're storing solar power during the day, and then when the sun goes down, they're covering that high ramping period when you suddenly have a lot of demand popping onto the system in the evening," White said.
The report also found that beyond utility growth, data centers drove strong growth off the grid.
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